Bernard Madoff's N.Y., Montauk homes to be auctioned in Parsippany

APBernard Madoff, seen here arriving at federal court in March 2009. Madoff's homes in New York and Montauk are scheduled to be auctioned in Parsippany.
PARSIPPANY — What’s it like to walk in Bernie Madoff’s shoes? You’ll get a chance to buy them, along with the billionaire swindler’s monogrammed socks, size 40-short suits and other items from his New York City and Montauk homes at an auction to be held in Morris County this spring.

James Plousis, U.S. Marshall for New Jersey, has worked out a deal to use donated space at the county’s public safety academy in Parsippany for a Madoff auction, likely to be held in April or May.

"We want to run an auction for as little cost as possible, so that just about every penny we make can go back to the victims,’’ Plousis said Wednesday. "I called Sheriff (Edward) Rochford in Morris County and he and the freeholders were very accommodating to us.’’

The planned auction will include furniture, rugs, clothing, utensils, wall hangings and hundreds of pairs of shoes — just about everything seized from Bernard and Ruth Madoff’s three-bedroom New York penthouse and three-bedroom Montauk home, Plousis said.

Also, they will auction the contents of a five-bedroom, five-bathroom Bridgewater house owned by Frank DiPascali, who was Madoff’s right-hand man in the massive Ponzi scheme.

Plousis pitched the sale location to Rochford about three weeks ago, the sheriff said.

"They needed a place with a lot of space and plenty of parking,’’ said Rochford. "When they sold his stuff in Miami, they had a huge turnout of people and media from all over the world. We’d have to be prepared for that.’’

That sale included three Madoff yachts and one vehicle, which yielded $2.2 million for Madoff victims, said Plousis. The Marshal’s office also sold Madoff’s 2001 Mercedes E320 station wagon at an auction in East Brunswick last October, netting $14,600.

Plousis and Morris County officials still have to work out a schedule that will provide academy space for the auction for three days, including one day to set up the goods, one day to allow public viewing and one day for the auction.

Madoff, 71, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for masterminding a scheme that spanned decades. DiPascali pleaded guilty and faces a 125-year sentence.

Thousands of investors with Madoff’s firm believed their securities were worth tens of billions of dollars. Investigators say clients’ account statements were fiction. Madoff never made investments and siphoned new investors’ money to pay returns to existing ones.

Madoff’s punishment included a forfeiture order that stripped him and his wife, Ruth, of nearly all their wealth. The order gave the marshals authority to seize and sell the homes.